Chapter Two: From Bad to Worse
Mayor Mare watched in horror as not only did the mud rise an extra foot before her very eyes, but the gas bubbles doubled in the air. Thunderlane wouldn't be able to fly her places much longer...
"We need to find a new way to get around town Thunderlane." The Mayor pointed out.
"Yeah... it's starting to get harder to dodge all these bubbles." He flew towards the Library.
The flew over a bubble and Mayor Mare saw something she did not expect, a Filly out doors... Jumping from roof to roof with a scooter!
"Thunderlane land next to her!" She commanded.
"Yes Ma'am!" Thunderlane nodded before entering his decent. He flew in front of the orange filly and landed just far enough ahead for her to hit the brakes.
"Scootaloo is it?" Mayor Mare asked in her dealing with children voice. "I believe you represented Ponyville as a flag carrier during the Equestrian Games!"
"Yep that's me!" Scootaloo bowed with pride.
"I just have a few questions is all, and then you can be on your way." The Mayor smiled.
"Alright!" Scootaloo nodded, eager to get into details about the games.
"For starters, why are you outside? It's very dangerous out here right now." She asked concerned.
"Oh." The Filly sighed, thinking she was in trouble, "It was just getting so stuffy in my house..."
Mayor Mare understood how boredom could influence her to go to these dangerous lengths, she'd watched this particular filly and her friends do some crazy things in the past and going out in this mess was far from surprising.
"I think I can help you there!" The Mayor smiled. "I'm trying to get this all cleaned up, but I can't leave you out here. Care to tag along?" She offered.
"I would love to!" Scootaloo hovered slightly at the idea.
"Are you okay with this Thunderlane?" She asked her impromptu taxi.
"Of course, can't leave her out here after all." He nodded.
"So Scootaloo," The Mayor began to ask as they continued to fly to the Library. "Us adults are having difficulty finding a way to get around, do you have any ideas?"
Scootaloo cocked her head to the side, was the Mayor actually asking for her opinion? Adults never did that! "Well, I'm used to not flying so I've been using my scooter..."
"I saw! It looks like fun but I don't think we can get Everypony to do that. Not to mention most Earth Ponies probably can't get fast enough on those to clear the gaps between buildings."
"I guess so." Scootaloo sighed, disappointed her plan wouldn't work out.
Mayor Mare noticed Scootaloo's demeanor change and comforted her, "Come on Scootaloo! That was only idea number one! I've had plenty of idea number ones fail at first. Maybe we just need another angle." She said, and idea forming in her mind. "Sometimes when I have a problem, I get stuck and can't come up with an answer. I then focus on another problem and often the answer comes to me then. We have no shortage of problems. For instance, the mud seems to be rising and we can't get rid of it. Soon some ponies may not be able to stay in their houses! How can we help them?"
The Mayor thought fondly back to her vacation in the Sea Pony village of Vineince. It was a beautiful city situated in a lake, with canals rather than roads. Earth pony and Unicorn tourists would get around using gondolas. She knew she could make boats strong enough to survive a the murk but before she got to Twilight's there was no rush to tell anypony her plan.
"Well..." Scootaloo furrowed her brow in thought. "We could get Everypony onto their roofs... Or maybe..." Her eyes lit up. "I remember seeing these big boats with houses on them when those Cantorlot nobles had that big yacht races! Maybe we could make some of those! we could even use smaller boats to move around!"
"What an excellent idea!" The Mayor congratulated her. "You see! I knew you could do it!" The Mayor was glad she had asked, she had thought of the boats, but house boats would keep them safe from the weather. Which she was sure would get out of hoof as flying got harder and harder.
They arrived at Twilights and saw her number one assistant Spike the dragon waving them down. Mayor Mare remembered when Celestia had first written to her about having Twilight and Spike living in the Library. She had been so worried about a Dragon living in Ponyville... Seemed silly now, after how many times they'd saved Ponyville. Still, she was never quite comfortable with it after Spike grew up for a day and destroyed half the town, but he seemed in control and was a good person.
"Twilight's downstairs researching. Oh, hi Scootaloo! What are you doing with the Mayor?" Spike asked.
"Just helping out! How've things been over here? Any luck?" The inquisitive little filly asked.
"I haven't found anything but Twilight's gone through dozens of books. She probably has found at least a hint." He led them inside. "Twilight the Mayor is here!"
"Good! Send her down!" The pretty purple pony princess of platonic relations called from below.
It had been awhile since the Mayor had actually looked around the library. She sighed, it used to be one of her favorite places to unwind in the quite of the books. But ever since Twilight moved in she had avoided it so as to not intrude. Not to mention how busy her schedule had been! It seemed like every other day there was some major disaster that required tons of paperwork. It had gotten so bad ponies hardly ever get to see her anymore! She remembered that one time Pinkamena Diane Pie had cloned herself and the town had rushed to the Princess's protégé rather than her. That had hurt, but she understood. She just wasn't around as often.
"Please give me good news Twilight." The Mayor hoped as she trotted down the staircase.
"Mayor you may want to sit down for this one." The Princess began as she hovered a book over to the Mayor. She was about to explain when she saw Scootaloo behind the Mayor. "Oh! Hello Scootaloo!" She smiled, glad to see the Filly was safe.
"Hey Twilight! I'm helping the Mayor!" Scootaloo smiled. "I'm guessing Twilight time is canceled?"
"For now I'm afraid, Scootaloo, could you wait outside for a little bit?" Twilight nervously asked.
"But... Okay," Scootaloo frowned as she made herself absent.
"Well Twilight what have you found, and why have you handed me a magical bestiary?" The Mayor asked as she flipped it open.
"Page one hundred and seventy three." She sighed, "You're not going to like this." Twilight added grimly.
"Hydras?" The Mayor read on. "I heard reports we have one in the bog..." Her voice caught as she read a line Twilight had highlighted. "Oh no..."
"What is it?" Thunderlane asked.
The Mayor read aloud from the book, "When a hydra is by itself too long, it can begin to believe itself as the last of its kind, these Hydras a very dangerous. To attempt to save its species a Hydra will split into smaller Hydras equal to the amount of heads it has using a powerful innate magic. This same magic will cause the environment it lives in to expand greatly to compensate for the increased population..." She read on silently before saying, "We have four Hydras running around, and the bog will only continue to rise for weeks. According to this... the mud won't stop until it reaches eight feet deep. The bubbles will fill the air, eventually popping and leaving behind clouds of toxic gases that drain the magic used in flight." She turned to Thunderlane and Twilight,
"We need to evacuate, immediately!" She ordered, her face grim. They turned as they heard a splash outside.
***
"RAINBOW!!! LOOK OUT!!!" Rarity screamed as she was torn through the air towards her home by the tired Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, yeah I see it!" Rainbow muttered as she deftly avoided the bubble of gas in her way. They landed on the roof of the boutique where SweetieBelle was loading Rarity's bag into the attic.
"Ooof!" Rarity huffed as she was dropped unceremoniously on her roof. "Thank you Rainbow, I'm sorry for all the hassle."
"It was no big deal, just me being awesome as usual!" Rainbow bragged. "Hey squirt." Rainbow greeted Sweetie as she trotted up to great her Sister and her friend.
"Hi Rainbow Dash! Rarity how was Cantorlot?" The overly energetic Sweetie asked eagerly.
"Look around you!" Rarity laughed, "With all this going on you want to hear about Cantorlot?"
"The excitement wore off after I couldn't leave hours ago." Sweetie complained. "So... Cantorlot?" She smiled.
Rarity and Rainbow laughed before Rarity began putting Rainbow to sleep with tales of fashion shows and famous ponies.